March Pixel Feature Drop includes Smart Compose and Recorder cloud backup

Google has made it a habit to drop new Pixel features throughout the year, and the search giant has back with another big update. The features arrive following an update in December that saw Google introduce Adaptive Sound, new Google Photos suggestions, and more. The latest Pixel Feature Drop is available beginning today.

Image: Google

As we reported last week, Google Recorder has introduced backup and sync support, along with availability on the web, making it easier to share links to your recordings with colleagues and friends. You can find your recordings at recorder.google.com, where you can search, see transcripts, and listen to recordings. If you rely on the Recording app and have multiple devices, this is a very welcome addition.

Google has also introduced a Smart Compose feature for select messaging apps on the Pixel 5. The feature suggests common phrases to help you compose messages, similar to the same features you’ll find in Gmail, and it’s available in the U.S. in English only.

Another new feature works specifically with the Pixel Stand, which is sold separately from the Pixel.

“When you use the bedtime features in Clock with your Pixel Stand, you’ll see a new, updated bedtime screen, along with redesigned notifications to help you ease into sleep,” Google said in a blog post.

Additionally, Google has introduced support for the Universal Smart Phone Housing for scuba diving by Kraken sports. With support, Pixel owners will be able to access camera features like Night Sight, Portrait Mode, and video, opening up some incredible under water opportunities.

Finally, there’s a new wallpaper collection in the Pixel Feature Drop that will celebrate different cultural moments through the year, starting with International Women’s Day on March 8.

All of these features are separate from Google’s much larger Android 12 update, which the search giant recently unveiled. You can read all about that update in this post right here.

Image: Google

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Google Duo uses a new codec for better call quality over poor connections

While U.S. carriers are busy marketing their new 5G networks, the reality is that the vast majority of people won’t experience the advertised speeds. There are still many parts of the U.S. — and around the world — where data speeds are slow, so to compensate, services like Google Duo use compression techniques to efficiently deliver the best possible video and audio experience. Google is now testing a new audio codec that aims to substantially improve audio quality on poor network connections.

In a blog post, the Google AI team details its new high-quality, very low-bitrate speech codec they’ve named “Lyra.” Like traditional parametric codecs, Lyra’s basic architecture involves extracting distinctive speech attributes (also known as “features”) in the form of log mel spectrograms that are then compressed, transmitted over the network, and recreated on the other end using a generative model. Unlike more traditional parametric codecs, however, Lyra uses a new high-quality audio generative model that is not only able to extract critical parameters from speech but is also able to reconstruct speech using minimal amounts of data. The new generative model used in Lyra builds upon Google’s previous work on WaveNetEQ, the generative model-based packet-loss-concealment system currently used in Google Duo.

Lyra’s basic architecture. Source: Google

Google says its approach has made Lyra on par with the state-of-the-art waveform codecs used in many streaming and communication platforms today. The benefit of Lyra over these state-of-the-art waveform codecs, according to Google, is that Lyra doesn’t send over the signal sample-by-sample, which requires a higher bitrate (and thus more data). To overcome the computational complexity concerns of running a generative model on-device, Google says Lyra uses a “cheaper recurrent generative model” that works “at a lower rate” but generates multiple signals at different frequency ranges in parallel that are later combined “into a single output signal at the desired sample rate.” Running this generative model on a mid-range device in real-time yields a processing latency of 90ms, which Google says is “in line with other traditional speech codecs.”

Paired with the AV1 codec for video, Google says that video chats can take place even for users on an ancient 56kbps dial-in modem. That’s because Lyra is designed to operate in heavily bandwidth-constrained environments such as 3kbps. According to Google, Lyra easily outperforms the royalty-free open-source Opus codec as well as other codecs like Speex, MELP, and AMR at very low-bitrates. Here are some speech samples provided by Google. Except for audio encoded in Lyra, each of the speech samples suffers from degraded audio quality at very low bitrates.

Clean Speech

Original

Opus@6kbps

Lyra@3kbps

Speex@3kbps

Noisy Environment

Original

Opus@6kbps

Lyra@3kbps

Speex@3kbps

Google says it trained Lyra “with thousands of hours of audio with speakers in over 70 languages using open-source audio libraries and then verifying the audio quality with expert and crowdsourced listeners.” As such, the new codec is already rolling out in Google Duo to improve call quality on very low bandwidth connections. While Lyra is currently aimed at speech use cases, Google is exploring how to make it into a general-purpose audio codec.

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iPhone 13 to reportedly feature smaller notch and 120Hz display

We’re six months away from the next iPhone, and already rumors about what’s next are starting to swirl. Today, we have a fresh report thanks to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who shared multiple new details about the iPhone 13.

According to Kuo (via 9to5Mac), the iPhone 13 series will include new features like a 120Hz display, larger battery, and improved cameras. Kuo suggests Apple will again release four models, including a mini model despite reports claiming the iPhone 12 mini didn’t live up to expectations.

The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are expected to use more power-efficient LTPO technology to go along with 120Hz support. The iPhone 13 series will also feature a smaller notch—Apple hasn’t changed the notch’s size since it was introduced in the iPhone X.

Speaking of the iPhone’s display, Kuo said he isn’t sure if Apple will introduce an in-display Touch ID sensor. Nor does it sound like the power button will feature a Touch ID sensor—something that was introduced by the most recent iPad Air.

“We believe that the iPhone will significantly improve the user experience if it adopts the power button with the Touch ID sensor,” Kuo said in an investor note. “However, currently, there is no visibility on the timing of adopting this new specification.

Apple fans have called on the company to re-introduce Touch ID in the age of coronavirus. With masks required in public spaces, Face ID has become a lot less useful. However, Apple will attempt to address this with a feature in iOS 14.5 that will allow Apple Watch owners to easily unlock their phone, much like they can already do with an Apple computer.

iPhone 12 Series Forums

The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are also said to include an upgraded ultra-wide camera. Instead of a 5MP f2.4 sensor that’s fixed focus, Apple will introduce a 6MP f1.8 sensor that supports autofocus.

The iPhone 13 series will reportedly keep a similar design to the iPhone 12, but this time introduce some internal changes that will see Apple integrate the SIM card slot with the mainboard. Meanwhile, Apple is also expected to equip the devices with larger batteries.

Anything could change between now and when the iPhone 13 is announced, but Kuo is typically very accurate with his predictions. The addition of a 120Hz display is something iPhone fans have been waiting for, so this year’s update could be big alongside the smaller notch.

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Here’s your chance to win a $10k investment in crypto by donating to charity

Over the past couple of months, cryptocurrencies have been lighting up the news headlines. The price of Bitcoin has soared thanks to a commitment from big investors, and other coins are now following suit. The Complete Bitcoin (BTC) Investment Giveaway gives you the chance to win your own $10k investment — and donate to charity at the same time.

In the past three months, the price of Bitcoin has more than tripled. With further growth expected into the future, now is a great time to jump on the runaway train.

The winner of this giveaway will get an investment of Bitcoin worth $8k, and Ethereum worth a total value of $2k, courtesy of Coinbase. To keep the coins safe, the prize includes a Ledger Nano X Hardware Wallet, worth $119.

Just as importantly, this bundle provides all the training you need for looking after a crypto portfolio — 22 courses and over 85 hours of content in all. Put together, the full prize bundle is valued at $12,512.

To enter, you simply choose an amount to donate to the Playing For Change Foundation. This non-profit uses music education to empower children in countries around the world while supporting talented musicians.

The system is very simple: $10 gets you 100 entries, $25 gets you 250 entries, and $50 is worth 1,000 entries. 

Donating $75 gives you 1,500 entries to play with, while $100 provides 2,500 entries, and $150 unlocks 4,500 entries! Enter today for your chance to win.

 

100 Entries to Win The Complete Bitcoin (BTC) Investment Giveaway & Donate to Charity – $10

See Deal

Prices subject to change 

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Qualcomm announces Snapdragon Insiders, a new community for enthusiasts

Qualcomm today announced a new program, called Snapdragon Insiders, to engage with fans from around the world. The company wishes to give Snapdragon fans the opportunity to learn more about their favorite Snapdragon tech right from the experts, share pro tips to help users make the most out of their devices, and reward loyal fans with Snapdragon-branded merch through the program.

Qualcomm has a three-pronged plan to reward all Snapdragon Insiders, which consists of monthly “drops” that will give the members extra access, perks, experience, and information. Through Access Drops, the company plans to set up small-group interactions with content creators and Qualcomm experts to show off its latest tech and provide answers to the community’s questions.

On the other hand, Passion Drops will consist of purpose-built activations focusing on key passion areas like mobile gaming, photography, sports & fitness, and more. These interactions will essentially be masterclasses in which content creators will tackle different passion areas and help users make the most of their Snapdragon devices.

Finally, Snapdragon Insiders will be the first to learn about the latest news and announcements about Snapdragon-enabled devices through Tech Drops. Tech Drops will also include giveaways, but Qualcomm hasn’t shared much information about that at the moment. The company claims that members will also get the opportunity to help shape the future of Snapdragon.

If you’re interested in joining the Snapdragon Insiders community, you can sign up by following this link. Once you’re done, you can follow Qualcomm on various social media channels, including Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit, to stay up to date on all upcoming community interactions. The company plans to set up a proper community forum for Snapdragon Insiders in the coming months. It’s worth noting that the program is already live in India, and users in the country can visit this link to sign up for it.

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These are the best music player apps for Android in March 2021!

It seems like we have been able to listen to music with pocketable devices since forever. Now granted, it hasn’t always been from our smartphones and we used to have dedicated MP3 devices for listening to our music on the go. But nowadays, pretty much any phone allows you to install your music streaming service of choice and can even fit some songs on its internal storage as well. But you probably want something that is a little bit better than what comes with your current smartphone (if it even comes with one at all). Well then, don’t despair: I’m here to help you again, with a curated list that picks up from the best Android apps list to give you something that focuses only on music playback and streaming! Here are some of our top picks for the best music player apps available for Android.

From normal music streaming services to apps that allow you to play your locally downloaded music, and even apps that do both, this is going to be a good one. Dive in to learn more!

Spotify

Spotify is always at the top of our list, and for good reason, as Spotify is one of the best music streaming apps currently available, period. There are so many good things I have to say about Spotify that it really gets pretty hard doing it over and over again. It’s my streaming service of choice for a reason. Not only can you stream music from around the world, but you can also use the app to play locally stored music too, making it just the one app that most users would need on their phone.

Spotify is available on both free and paid flavors and comes with a plethora of features as well as nifty things such as an amazingly big library, amazing recommendations based on what you listen to and what’s popular in your area, and support for podcasts, which is something very few music streaming apps have built-in.

Spotify: Listen to podcasts & find music you love (Free, Google Play) →

Deezer

If Spotify is not your cup of tea, then Deezer might fit the bill a little bit better than Spotify does, as it’s one of the most well-known alternatives to bigger apps like Apple Music and YouTube Music. Deezer actually provides a very similar feature set to Spotify, down to the number of features the Premium version offers, and it also has an ad-supported free version. Both are pretty good, though, as we have features such as downloads, recommendations, and a vast library of both music tracks and podcasts for you to choose from.

If you’re on the lookout for one of the best music player apps out there, this might be pretty close.

Deezer Music Player: Songs, Playlists & Podcasts (Free⁺, Google Play) →

iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio is way different from what you might think as conventional streaming app, and instead focuses on streaming something a little bit different: radio stations! And in this sense, it is a lot more similar to tuning into AM or FM radio than it is to actually streaming music. So if you like doing things the old school way, this is as good as it gets. As the name implies, it is a radio streaming application where people can listen to a variety of stations according to their personal tastes.

It contains radio shows, podcasts, news, and sports content. It also includes AM and FM radio stations. And best of all, it’s completely free!

iHeartRadio: Radio, Podcasts & Music On Demand (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Tidal

Tidal has a big thing going for them that not many other streaming services have: it features lossless audio. It’s set to face competition from none other than Spotify as the company recently announced that Spotify HiFi is a thing. Tidal pioneered the concept of streaming lossless music, and having CD-quality music without having to own CDs or without having to download FLAC files is pretty darn great. Once we get past the lossless aspect of things, Tidal still remains a pretty compelling package with access to a claimed library of 70 million songs.

We think it’s one of the best music player apps in the market because of the lossless quality it offers, though, which is a boon for audiophiles.

TIDAL Music - Hifi Songs, Playlists, & Videos (Free, Google Play) →

YouTube Music

YouTube, the digital video platform, is considered “the king of free apps” par excellence because it gives you access to an enormous library of media, which also includes music. But YouTube Music, while using the same platform like YouTube, is a different thing entirely. It mixes YouTube’s name and brand as well as its enormous popularity and joins that with a library of over 40 million songs (and that’s without counting in videos), and a free tier that packs pretty much the same limitations as the YouTube app for videos. The best part about the YouTube identity is that all your liked music from over the years is also carried along, so you can dip into nostalgia with ease.

The paid tier removes ads and gives you access to features such as background playback. The free version does leave a few things to be desired though, so if you aren’t willing to shell something out, it’s best you go with a different option in this list.

YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →

Apple Music

It’s been years and we’re still surprised Apple actually made Apple Music available on Android, but alas, they did. And for what it’s worth, it’s definitely on the upper tier of the best music player apps for Android. In order to have access to this service, you have the option to pay a $10/month subscription for a personal package; $5 if you are a student or you can pay a monthly $15 if you want to enjoy a family package, allowing you to share your subscription and Apple’s ginormous music library with up to 6 people.

I often recommend Spotify blindly to people, but I actually tried out Apple Music for some months and found it to be a pretty compelling package as well.

Apple Music (Free, Google Play) →

Musixmatch

Musixmatch has actually been one of my favorite apps for years, not only because it works as a standalone music player for you to playback your locally downloaded tracks, but because it also adds extra functionality to other apps. It is focused on live lyrics and does a pretty good job at it. It allows you to play locally downloaded music and gives you, first and at the forefront, the lyrics to whatever you’re listening to. Don’t have locally downloaded music? Then you can also use it for displaying live lyrics on apps like Spotify using something called FloatingLyrics.

It’s one of the most versatile and overall best music player app on this list.

Musixmatch - Lyrics for your music (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Shuttle Music Player

I might hear you say now by this point of the list “But Arol, I don’t like streaming my music through the internet and I don’t want any fancy features that will make my phone slow or take up valuable space or resources, I just want something that will play my MP3 files!”. And that’s where Shuttle comes in. If you have locally downloaded music, Shuttle will pick it up and allow you to play it. It really doesn’t get any simpler (and luckily, not more complicated either) than that. It features folder browsing, tag editing so you can edit your MP3 tags, and most importantly, it features Material Design.

It keeps it simple and precise, which is why it earns a spot as one of the best music player apps on Android.

Shuttle Music Player (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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This is pretty much it for our list of the best music player apps available. If you’re into streaming, then you really can’t go wrong with any of the big players: Spotify and Apple Music offer a relatively comparable set of features and relatively comparable pricing as well. Deezer and Tidal are also compelling options in this space, while iHeartRadio keeps things old school by allowing you to tune into actual radio stations.

Don’t want to stream your music? Then Musixmatch and Shuttle are both amazing options. Check these out and let us know your favorite!

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Best Galaxy S21 Plus Clear Case to buy in March 2021: ESR, Spigen, Samsung, and more!

The Galaxy S21 Plus is finally official and alongside the regular Galaxy S21, and it comes in a few colors. If you’ve picked up the gorgeous Phantom Violet Galaxy S21, you’ll want to protect it while also ensuring you can show off the stunning Violet and Gold color scheme. After all, why buy this unique color if you can’t show it off, right? Clear cases are a great way to achieve this, but they provide varying levels of protection. Some are thin and cheap and provide only the most basic protection, while others are thicker and provide more protection. Whatever your style of case, we’ve rounded up the Best Galaxy S21 Plus Clear case that you should buy below!

Official Clear Protective Case

Official Clear Protective Case

This clear protective case is a step up from the base variant on sale from Samsung. It has also been drop-tested to MIL-STD-810G Transit Drop standards, and is available in two colors.

$40 at Samsung

Official Clear Standing Case

Official Clear Standing Case

This is a standing version of the clear case, sold officially by Samsung. The company does charge a good premium over other standing cases, but you pay for the first-party nature and the brand.

$35 at Samsung

SQMCase Shockproof Silicone Cover with Ring

Military Grade Protection

If you want a case that is clear and shows off the beauty of your new phone, while also providing serious protection, look no further than SQMCase. Although this case doesn't have reviews yet, the company's other cases are very highly rated. This case also comes with a built-in ring holder which doubles as a kickstand for propping the phone up when you want to watch a movie!

View at Amazon

ESR Metal Kickstand Case

Protection with a kickstand

If you want a solid kickstand and reinforced drop protection, look no further than ESR, who have been making cases for over 10 years. This flexible polymer case provides protection while showing off your phone, and the metal kickstand is perfect for those times you want to prop up your phone. The unique position of the kickstand means, unlike most cases with a kickstand, you can prop your phone up both horizontally and vertically.

View at Amazon

Olixar Ultra Thin Clear Case

Ultra-thin and effective

If you want a case that's ultra-thin and provides basic protection, the Olixar Ultra Thin Clear Case for the Galaxy S21 is a great buy. This flexible silicone case is designed for those who want something thin and clear, and it's wireless charging compatible so you won't block you from charging without plugging a cable in. Keep in mind that this offers only some basic protection, so don't drop your phone too hard.

View at Amazon

Spigen Ultra Hybrid

Trusted name in the game

Spigen cases are one of our trusted recommendations from personal use, and this Ultra Hybrid line delivers on its goals. The back is made of durable polycarbonate, while the side is a TPU bumper all through. This case is available in two colors: Crystal Clear and Matte Black, so pick and choose depending on your taste for the bumper.

View at Amazon

Cyrill Floral Pattern Clear Case

For some pizzazz

If you're looking beyond just a clear case, you can explore printed patterns on the clear case. For instance, this clear case has a printed floral pattern on the back, adding some more character to your device while also letting you show off the phone and protect it at the same time.

View at Amazon

dbrand customizable skin

29 color options to customize your phone

If you've got the Black (or even the silver) colorway, you might want to customize your phone with a dbrand skin. It's not a clear case, but you'll see the skin through the case you do buy! This is also a great option if you're not a fan of Samsung's choice of Gold and Purple but want the gorgeous light purple color.

Up to $15 at DBrand

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Clear case options can be overwhelming, and we do agree with you. For the vast majority, what you can purchase would be reliant on the budget you have left over after purchasing your device. If you have store credits leftover from a previous offer, you should definitely give the official Samsung ones a shot, for they are the ones that promise the best compatibility. Still, they also aren’t cheap by any means.

If you want something cheaper, Spigen is a tried and trusted name, and we’ve used several of their products (including this lineup) on other phones to recommend them. You can also get some kickstand cases to make it easier to consume content when your phone is propped up on a table, and you don’t necessarily need to get Samsung’s version to enjoy this functionality. If you are looking for basic scratch protection and really dislike tacking on any bulk to your phone, then the Dbrand skins should be your top choice, even though they are not a clear case. Either way, we recommend that you get a case because Samsung will not be including one in the box.

While you’re at it, make sure to grab a charger!

Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is the middle child in the new 2021 flagship series, packing in a flagship SoC and a premium build, along with a decent display and camera setup.

Buy from Samsung.com

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